Emerald Cove #14295

These high rocky cliffs honeycombed with holes were carved out by Lake Superior at the very top of Michigan near Marquette. If you look carefully, you can see the water swelling in the foreground against the rock edge. The large tour boat I was riding in was rising and falling with the lake water of course, and we were inside one of those holes rocking around slightly. The partly cloudy skies that day helped to turn the water near emerald green, and depending on the light and location, the water can appear iridescent at times all the way to dull steel gray.

These dramatic multicolored cliffs are part of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and tour boats leaving Munising harbor travel along them for miles through good weather. The cliffs and surrounding lands are wild beauty, and they can vary in height and character with some reaching 300 feet or more. They are streaked with different colors from water laden with various minerals moving through the sandstone rock. In a few places, waterfalls spill over the cliffs to meet the lake. On shore in a heavy mixed forest including white birch, there are many trails and campsites, and on the water there is fishing, kayaking, and wreck diving. Many ships have met their end in storms along these cliffs and Superior’s reputation as a ship graveyard is well earned.